Viva Colombia! Yes...I recently had the honor of visiting that country on a Patmos mission trip! Surprisingly, it is only a few hour flight from Fort Lauderdale. We landed around lunch, met up with our friends from last year, and headed to our hotel. We got to settle in a little, then went on a walk around downtown-praying for the city and connecting with students.
The first day we went to a small school. It was established to try and help rescue children from the sex industry, although we found out that many of the kids are still exposed to prostitution after they go home. :( We spent all day with these kids-loving them. They were little darlings who just wanted to be loved. In the morning we played games, colored, danced, and gave a few little devotionals. In the afternoon we all walked out into the community together and had the opportunity to visit some of their houses- and share what we call "love bags." These are small bags of some essential food items: rice, oil, etc.
On Wednesday we went back in the same area and split into two teams. One team went out into the community in the morning to give out Love Bags and Spanish Bibles. The other team picked up trash. My small group was passing out Love Bags and Bibles. My co-leader Zach and I agreed to let the students lead. We told them they needed to decide where to go, and they needed to take the lead in speaking to people. They were being very uncertain until the oldest member of the group, Todd, finally spotted a group of men and decided to go talk to them. We introduced ourselves and then started to get to know them. They said they knew who God was, but there was no church around so they never got to hear the Word of God. All of us thought, why not do a Bible study right here? So Todd took out his Bible and taught on what he had been learning: John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." The men were all very receptive and eager to listen and we ended up leading 6 or 7 of them to the Lord! Then they asked if we could do another Bible study later in the afternoon. Of course we said yes!
The rest of the day we saw the Lord working as he led us to different families. One woman was a single mother with 4 children who had trying to walk by faith, even when that meant quitting her job--the only form of income she had, because the Lord let her to. And then we showed up with food at her door. She was moved to tears and so eager to come to our Bible study! She wanted to bring the whole town. At the Bible Study she rededicated her life to the Lord!
Thursday morning we got to visit a women's prison. A couple of the students shared their testimonies and then the students did a skit, and gave the gospel. All the women in the prison raised their hands to accept Jesus into their hearts! Afterward we were able to pray with them in small groups and find out how we can pray for them in the future. Many of them were mothers, separated from their children, and just longing to be free again.
Thursday evening and Friday we visited some missionaries in a nearby town. They were from Oregon. They had been living very comfortable lifestyles until the Lord called them to start an orphanage in Cartagena. It was amazing to hear their stories of faith. They did not do any fundraising, but the Lord orchestrated people to partner with them and give them funds. Now they are living by faith. They have already taken in 5 little Colombian children who were rescued from bad situations. We got to help these two families with some much needed manual labor around their property. We carried loads of palm leaves down the hill to the new house they are building, we broke up tile so they can build a new gazebo, we picked up trash, we dug out clay, we dug a well, and we tried our best just to encourage them in the Lord.
The students did an evangelistic skit in the town square Friday night and saw several people come to the Lord.
On Saturday we took a short boat ride to a nearby island called Tierra Bomba. It is completely impoverished without even running water. We had the opportunity to do VBS with a couple hundred kids! We sang songs, did skits, colored pictures, the girls learned a fun dance, the boys played soccer, and we just loved them!
Finally on Sunday we had the opportunity to go to church and then had a little R and R time. One of our hosts, Liv, took us to a popular tourist beach. It was beautiful there: white sands and clear ocean. The ride home, however, was not so peaceful. There was one little ferry that would take everyone across a little channel, back to the main road. On the way back we hit traffic! Let's just say it reminded me of waiting to cross the border in Tijuana! We literally waited in line for 3 or 4 hours! But we made it back safe and sound and flew out the next day.
Overall the trip was fruitful. The students went out and did evangelism almost every night, and overall we must have seen 30-40 people come to the Lord. It was refreshing to see the students apply what they had been learning. For weeks, we were teaching them about Faith and Hope and now they got to go out and talk to real people who were hurting and angry, confused, and suffering and they got to share their hearts. It was a really awesome time to connect with the students and serve alongside of them to try to bless the people of Cartagena! There were so many stories to share, but I tried to give a good overall glimpse of what we did and how we served!
